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A friend and church member passed away this past April. He was a big, fun-loving guy, very active in our church, and even ran the soundboard for the CL7 a couple times. He knew he was dying, and able to help plan his own service, but then the pandemic came and we were unable to celebrate his life together in person. Our pastor orchestrated a wonderful memorial service, with videos from his family and friends, her own homily and prayers, and music from the church.

Our friend had asked that we sing at his service, and since we couldn’t physically do that, we and the family picked a song that we had sung in church and recorded previously. I think the lyrics are pretty good at painting a picture of the wonderful approach to life that our friend always exhibited, from before his diagnosis all the way to his passing. I hope you’ll enjoy it; it’s called Love Like I’m Leavin’.

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We sang a few songs for family and friends at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian and had a little talk in the afternoon on March 4th this year. We wanted to celebrate them and thank them for all the support they give us throughout the year! We had a blast, and ended with a BBQ! What a great day!

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This, the third and final month of our Pastor’s sabbatical, the CL7 again ran a Sunday morning service from start to end. This month, we did songs that mostly came from secular radio and lent themselves to a sacred reinterpretation. Music by The Wood’s Brothers, Carly Simon, Levon Helm, The Carpenters, Cat Stevens, Glen Campbell and Ronnie Milsap all had a spot in the service.

Here’s the YouTube playlist of many of the pieces:

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We led an entire worship service at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, Minneapolis, (our home church) this morning. All the interludes, responses, hymns, and anthems were songs either written by Bill and Gloria Gaither, or performed by one of the Gaither ensembles.

Here is a YouTube playlist of the full songs we sang:

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We had a wonderful time worshiping with our church last Sunday. We led off with some Hank Williams, I Saw the Light. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwijrpAxJmk&t=0s

In place of a sermon, we sang three songs:

For the Offertory, we sang another old classic hymn, Oh How I Love Jesus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaIytS5Tm2E&t=0s

We also sang some fun hymns with the congregation and with the kids during the Time with Children. You can see the whole service at this YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIkFmnP-8ADnMxK6eLM1pQz4OIgx0Iv5T

Peace,

Jim

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Our pastor, Jamie Schultz, is out on a Sabbatical for August, September, and October this year. The CL7 volunteered to run one service a month during this time. Greg decided to organize them thematically around musical influences of the CL7.

The first, on August 13th, is an Old Time Music Service, with hymns like In the Garden and I’ll Fly Away, and with anthems like Turn Your Radio On and When the Roll is Called Up Yonder.

The second, on September 24nd, is inspired by the Gospel music of the Gaithers.

And the third, on October 22nd, is based on music from outside the normal realm of Gospel, but having spirit-filled meaning. Songs like My Church by Maren Morris, and a number of songs from The Wood Brothers.

Don’t miss ’em!

 

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CL7 first paying gig 1996Twenty years ago, after a year and a half of singing at Bryn Mawr and informal gatherings, we sang at Friendship Village for an actual ‘paycheck’. Of course, as today, the money was really for a mission fund at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, but we still knew we were crossing a threshold into a new age for the group. We had just picked a name; before this concert we had simply been “The Bryn Mawr Men’s Chorus”. We chose “The Cedar Lake Seven”, because our church is on Cedar Lake Road and, although there were eight singers at the time, we liked the alliteration.

We put on jackets (if you book us today, don’t get your hopes up for the jackets!), pants with creases, and even combed our hair (if you book us today, don’t get your hopes up for me having any hair left to comb!)

The concert was wonderful; we love going to Friendship Village and have since been back many times. Afterwards, we were so pleased with ourselves that we posed around the poster that had been made with the check in hand.

I enjoy looking through the file folder of pictures and memorabilia from across the history of the CL7. The group is a wonderful blessing in my life, and seeing these old things is a great reminder of just how long I’ve been allowed to be, in the words of Bill Gaither, making music with my friends.